Dear Friends,
We have had an exciting couple of months with a lot going on here in Brazil. During the last weekend in June, our teens were able to be a part of the first annual teen conference at my uncle’s church in Taubaté. God greatly used that time and called Gustavo, a young teen boy in our church, to be a missionary to Portugal. Pray that God would continue to guide him as he seeks to fulfill the Lord’s will in his life.
That same weekend, we started our missions month at our church. I had the privilege to preach several times during the month, encouraging our people to grow their faith and do more for missions. At the end of the month we took our faith promise commitments and will be able to take on at least two new missionaries as well as raise the support for all of our current missionaries. Pray that the Lord would guide us in choosing the right people to partner with.
During the first week of July, we also had our national missions conference. This is a conference put on by my parents through the Brazilian mission board my dad is the president of. They use the conference to encourage other churches to get more involved in missions and to encourage the missionaries with the board. We were able to put on the kids program for the week. It was a great conference with many decisions being made and a wonderful time of fellowship. Pray that the Lord would send more laborers into His harvest from here in Brazil.
A week before the conference, we found out we were expecting, but we lost the baby during the conference. We are so grateful for the time we did have and are looking forward to being able to have a child that we can hold soon. We decided to name the child Jesse which means gift from God. We have found great comfort in Christ and knowing that someday we will see our child.
Our conference season continued as we were able to be a part of the first leadership conference hosted by my uncle’s church in Taubaté. Our sending pastor, John Wilkerson, was able to come speak for the conference and we had pastors form all over Brazil in attendance. It was such a help and encouragement not only through the preaching and teaching, but also through the fellowship with other pastors and helpers. I had the opportunity to see missionaries that I had not seen in over 15 years. We look forward to seeing what God will continue to do through this conference in the future.
At the end of the conference, we were able to stay an extra day and participate in the churches outreach time. We went to the town square in a neighboring city, where they will be starting a new church plant, to witness to people. Lily was able to lead a lady to the Lord! I was able to witness to a young man named Alex and help him understand what salvation actually means. He was not ready to accept Christ, but pray that he would make that decision soon. Also, pray for that church plant and for the family that will be leading it. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It is a privilege to serve alongside each of you.
God bless.
David and Lily Johnson
Missionaries to Brazil
São Caetano do Sul – SP
Psalm 139:14